From the Ashes, New Homes
Rise in Fort Wayne
Neighborhood * •
FORT WAYNE, IN
ith the help of a $200,000 EPA Brownfields As-
sessment Pilot grant, a former oil pump manufacturing and
warehouse site in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been assessed,
more than $1.5 million in funding has been leveraged from
the city and state for cleanup and restoration of the site,
and plans are moving forward for a 10-home residential
development called Phoenix Place and a 20-home devel-
opment on an adjacent parcel.
The City of Fort Wayne was awarded EPA's Brownfields
Assessment Pilot grant in August 1998, which provided
funding for the hiring of the the city's Brownfields
Redevelpment Manager. The Pilot also funded $27,500
worth of environmental assessments of the Bowser Pump
site—a 12.5-acre property divided into three parcels within
one of the most economically distressed areas in the state.
As a result of the Pilot's assessments, approximately 3,200
cubic yards of contaminated soil were excavated, removed
from one of the parcels, and disposed of. This parcel,
Parcel B, was a storage site for 600,000 tires that had
caught fire and burned for three days in 1997, forcing the
evacuation of more than 1,000 neighborhood residents and
the adjacent Fort Wayne Police Department. The city
spent nearly $350,000 to demolish the remaining charred
and unsafe buildings, and the Indiana Department of Envi-
ronmental Management (IDEM) removed the remaining
tires from the site. Parcel B has undergone multiple envi-
ronmental assessments with the assistance of the EPA
Brownfields Pilot, and has since been cleared for residen-
tial use by IDEM's Brownfields Program. A $300,000
grant from the Housing and Urban Development's (HUD)
Economic Development Initiative (EDI) will finance in-
stallation of a new public infrastructure that will support
construction of 20 new homes on the site.
continued ^
JUSTTHE FACTS:
• The Brownfields Pilot funded $27,500 worth
of environmental assessments of the Bowser
Pump site—a 12.5-acre property within one
of the most economically distressed areas in
the state.
• The city spent nearly $350,000 to demolish
the site's charred and unsafe buildings, and
the Indiana Department of Environmental
Management removed tires from a tire stor-
age site.
• A $300,000 grant from HUD's Economic De-
velopment Initiative (EDI) will finance instal-
lation of a new public infrastructure that will
support construction of 20 new homes on the
site.
Additional projects proposed for the area
include a $5 million, 40,000-square-foot
neighborhood commercial retail center; a
neighborhood learning center; and a "Head
Start" school—all serviced by a new public
transportation hub. Total investment is
estimated at more than $10 million.
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CONTACTS:
Ft. Wayne Redevelopment Commission
(219)427-1127
U.S. EPA-Region5
(312) 353-2513
Visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
In addition to EPA Brownfields Pilot and EDI funding, the city received a
State of Indiana $500,000 low-interest loan to be used toward brownfields
cleanup and redevelopment. In the spring and summer of 1999, ap-
proximately $300,000 of that loan was used to complete the demolition
of Bowser Pump site subsurface structures as well as the removal
and disposal of 16 underground storage tanks (USTs) containing non-
hazardous solvents, fuel oil, and diesel fuel. Another $200,000 in city
funding was spent on site preparation, including installation of utilities,
drainage, sewers, roads, curbs, sidewalks, lights, and trees for the
expansion of Fisher Street, which runs in front of the site. This infra-
structure project, completed in December 1999, is enabling develop-
ment of a 2.25-acre portion of the Bowser Pump property (Parcel C) into
Phoenix Place, a new 10-unit residential development. The city will pay
back the $500,000 loan using a county economic development income tax that
captures six-tenths of one percent on income from people who live or work in the
county.
The development contract for Phoenix Place has been awarded to the Greater Progressive
Housing Community Development Corporation (CDC), which represents 7,500 residents in
the area. The city gave the land to the CDC, which will sell the 1,700- to 2,300-square-foot
houses at a cost of $90,000 to $125,000. Owners will
also receive a five-year residential property tax
abatement on their new homes. The first model
home was completed in early 2000, and three
additional homes are nearly complete.
Redevelopment progress on the Bowser
site has spurred other neighborhood im-
provement projects. In the summer of
2000, a nearby city park received $50,000
from the state for improvements to its bas-
ketball courts, playground equipment, land-
scaping, and handicap accessibility.
Additional projects proposed within the nearby
Hanna Creighton neighborhood include a $5 mil-
lion, 40,000-square-foot neighborhood commercial re-
tail center located three blocks from the Bowser site and a neigh-
borhood learning center that includes a new branch library, Urban League office and commu-
nity center, and a "Head Start" school—all serviced by a new public transportation hub. Total
investment in this project is estimated at more than $ 10 million.
C /VAYN
Brownfields Success Story
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA-500-F-02-032
April 2002
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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